Sweet and Low
by lecagedbird
Summary: Sister Fic. Three year old Rosie joins The Mercer family. How will she change the lives of the Mercers and what will happen when her safety is threatened?
1. Clementine Rose

Ch.1

Bobby-19

Jerry-17

Angel-15

Jack-9

"Bobby! Jerry! Angel! Jack! She's here!"

Evelyn Mercer turned from the stairs when she heard the thunder of footsteps scrambling around. She walked to the door, standing at the ready.

The children she brought into her home always surprised her in one way or another. These four sure had.

She didn't know what to expect of this little girl. All she knew was what was in her file. A thick, beat up manila folder telling a grim story of another child who had slipped through the cracks. This poor child was too young to know such horrors. She had to see for herself what this little girl was all about.

She turned as she she heard her boys run down the stairs like a herd of elephants, smiling as she saw them stumble into view.

"Stop Bobby!"

"Ahh come on fairy! It didn't hurt that bad!"

"Angel!"

"What?! It wasn't me man!

"Sure."

"Boys!"

They all stopped their horseing around when they heard there mother's amused voice.

"Ma, I'm so excited to get a little sister!,"Jack said running to his mother's side.

They had finally cracked Jack's nervous and hard outer shell and opened up the vibrant, happy little boy. You could still see the whisper of sadness in his eyes, but that was no surprise to any of them considering what he's been through.

"I know Jackie, so am I," she said gently patting down the boy's unrully hair.

"Ma?", Jerry asked quietly. The quiet one. Calm. A happy addition to the family and much needed in the band of boys. He kept them in check. Or tried to anyway.

"Yes Jerry?" she smiled at his serious face, but knew by the twinkle in his eye that he was just as excited as herself and Jack.

"How old did you say she was?", his serious mask cracking and giving way to a giant smile.

"3 years old. Her name is Clementine Rose. But, she goes by Rose or Rosie."

"Clementine? What the hell kinda name is that?," Bobby snickered. The tough one. Always trying to mask how he really felt with a snide remark or a curse word or two. But Evelyn had known Bobby too long and could see right through his facade.

"Oh Bobby Mercer! Hush!", she tried hard to suppress her smile but couldn't help the amused smile from spreading across her face.

"I like it!" Angel said defiantly, already protecting his baby sister, "it's got class!"

And finally, Angel. The Casanova of the bunch. A different girl for everyday and that was just the way he liked it. But he was a sweet boy with a tender soul.

Their laughter was cut off by a quiet, yet firm, knock on the door.

Evelyn took a deep breath and felt the flutter in her stomach as she reached for the door-knob. She was nervous, but she was ready. Oh boy was she ready.

She opened the door with an excited smile on her face.

"Hello Evelyn. It's great to see you again. This is Clementine Rose. Rosie, meet your new family."


	2. Mona Lisa Smile

Bobby's heart swelled with happiness at the sight of the little girl on the social worker's hip. She was so small.

He was supposed to be the "tough guy" with a bad reputation, but right now he felt like a big softy.

_Bet I look like one too,_ he thought,_ Who the hell cares._

Rose had her head tucked into the woman's shoulder, but he could still see her vibrant blue eyes peering out at them through her black hair with a look of curious terror.

"Claire she's adorable! Thank you so much.", Evelyn said, her eyes sparkling.

"My pleasure Evelyn. I know this is the best possible place for her. She'll be very happy here", Claire looked at the group of boys quickly and then smiled at Evelyn, "It's her brothers that might take some getting used to."

The boys looked at each other with a look of confusion. What was wrong with them?

Oh. They're huge in little Rosie's eyes.

"Can I take her Claire. Will she mind that?"

"Of course not. She takes quite fondly to woman and children. It's the men we've been having some...trouble with."

She once again gave the 4 brothers a fleeting look and directed her attention back to Evelyn.

She gently handed Rosie over to Evelyn. Rosie clamped her arms around her neck and burrowed her head into her shoulder.

Evelyn gently stroked her hair and cooed softly into her ear.

"Boys?", Claire asked giving them a warm smile,"While your mother gets Rose settled do you mind if I have a word with you all in the kitchen?"

Claire had been to this house so many times bringing children to Evelyn Merecer's loving family, that she knew the home almost as well as the four boys living there did.

She gave Evelyn a warm smile and watched as she walked into the living room with the newest member of the Mercer clan.

She walked silently into the kitchen with the boys following right at her heels.

She turned to face them and nearly ran smack-dab into Jack.

"Sorry," Jack mummbled, backing up, a red tint plaguing his cheeks.

Claire laughed good-naturedly at the older boys jokes, but decided to carry to save the poor boy from further humiliation.

"Alright boys, listen up. That includes you too Bobby", after she was sure that she had all four brothers attention, she continued, "This is very important. You _must_ be gentle with Rose alright? This means no yelling, no horse play, no loud noises, no rough housing. You catch my drift. I don't think I have to go through every detail. Let her get used to her environment. I know, i know. I'm ruining all your fun, but you knew that taking in a little sister, especially one so young, was going to be a big responsibility. "

The boys looked at her, their faces serious, soaking in what he said word for word. Being this still was rare for the Mercer boys, who were well known for thier rowdiness.

She looked each boy in the eye, then smiled.

"Now, I'm done barking orders and being a drill sargent. Go see your little sister. But, just remember. Don't be loud."

The boys silently filed out of the kitchen with Claire following slowly behind.

She watched as the boys tip-toed to Evelyn where she was sitting on the sofa with Rose reading a book.

Evelyn turned towards her and smiled a fantastic smile.

"Thank you", she mouthed

"My pleasure, Evelyn."

With that she opened the door, gave the new family one last look, and then walked out, closing the door gently behind her.

**A/N: You really didn't think I'd leave you hanging here did you? I'm not that cold hearted.**

Jack was filled with terror as he walked into the living room.

What if he scared her? What if he hurt her?

Whet if he made her...cry?!

Bobby noticed the young boys terror filled eyes and laid a hand gently on his shoulder.

"You'll do fine Jackie," he whispered.

He looked up at his oldest brother with gratitude.

He slowly sat down next to his mother.

Rose looked at him with shy interest, her head still buried in Evelyn's shoulder.

They locked eyes for what seemed like forever.

He watched, amazed, as a shy smile spread across her face.

He gently reached out his hand and held it in front of her.

She sat up with the most beautiful smile on her little face and took it.

Words couldn't describe how he felt when she gently crawled off of Evelyn's lap and into his.

"Book," she whispered softly and held up "Goodnight Moon".

Evelyn watched with wonder as Jack's smile seemed like it lit up the entire room.

He immediately opened the book and began to read to Rosie, who was leaning against his chest, one hand twirling a small pigtail around her finger.

_Now. One down 3 more to go_, she thought, _This might not be as difficult as i thought it would be._

She didn't realize at the time just how wrong she was.


	3. Call it Fate

**Disclaimer: (Sorry! I forgot to do this in the last two chapters! I bet you missed them didn't you...?) I don't own Four Brothers. Oh but if i could...Mark...dear god...**

Evelyn jerked awake.

_What in the world is that noise?_

Rose.

She jumped out of bed with a quickness younger folks would be jealous of and ran down the hallway to Rose's room.

As she got closer another noise joined the blood curdling screams.

"Shh. Rose, Rosie. It's ok. Shhhh. It's just me."

"Bobby?"

Bobby turned around to see his mom staring at him from the door way with a confused look.

"Ma-i'm sorry! I heard her crying-and-i didn't know what to do."

Evelyn quickly walked to Rose's bed and picked her up, gently rubbing her back and cooing into her ear.

By that time, Jerry, Angel, and Jack were all crowded outside the room, having also been awakened by the commotion.

"Bobby, dear It's alright. She's just scared. It's ok."

Rose had fallen back asleep in Evelyn's arms at that point, so she gently laid her in bed and motioned for the boys to follow her as she walked down the hallway and down the stairs.

Bobby was filled with a sense of dread as he sat on the floor next to the fire place. (**A/N: I haven't seen the movie in awhile so I kind of blanked on whether or not there was really a fireplace. So, for this story, let's just say there is one. :)**

He was sure that he had scared Rose so bad, that she would never grow to like, let alone, love him.

Bobby was torn form his self beating, by a panicked Jack.

"Ma! What happened?! Is she goinna be ok? Why was she crying?!"

Evelyn smiled warmly.

"Rose is fine honey. There's nothing wrong with her. Most likely she just woke up, didn't recognize where she was, and got scared. You all remember your first nights in different homes."

Each boy reflected and shuddered slightly. They didn't like to think about the time before Evelyn came into their lives.

"Bobby. I know what you're thinking and your wrong."

"Then why did she scream when i picked her up?!"

"We talked about this. She hasn't had good experiences with men. It'll take some getting used to, living in a house with 4 of them."

Bobby simply nodded and went back to brooding.

"Will she ever get used to the rest of us? She's already in love with Jackie," (**A/N: I like this spelling better.) **Jerry asked.

"I'm not going to lie to you and tell you yes, because i honestly don't know. I think the reason she took to Jackie so well is that he's obviously much closer to her age than any of the rest of you are."

Angel had just sat there the entire time not saying a word. Weird.

The inner turmoil inside of Angel was nearly eating him alive.

He had always wanted a baby sister to love and protect, and just when one was heaven sent to their door-step, she was terrified of him.

Evelyn looked on each of her older boys. The look of hopelessness on each of their faces nearly broke her heart.

Even Jack had a heart wrenching look on his face, and he had already been "accepted".

She couldn't explain to the boys that she knew that everything would workout. She couldn't even explain to herself how or why she felt this way. She just did. Call it fate, intuition, or her heart. Call it what you will, but she knew.

She silently stood up and gave each boy a hug and kissed them on the forehead.

"Don't worry my dears, ok? I know everything will be okay. And mother knows best, right?"

The all shared a good-natured laugh adn went back to their beds, each caught up in thought.

As Jerry passed Rose's room, he looked at the small girl curled up into a ball on the bed.

He smiled gently and felt a tug on his heart.

This little girl was going to change their lives. If she could change hardened Bobby Mercer into mush, she could co anything.

**Alright, so chapter 3! I know these first three chapters have been horrible and boring, but they will get better and more "action packed" or whatever you want to call it.**

**I do have a few questions. I'm a newb (yeah, yeah), so i'm not very familiar with the lingo.**

**OCOut of character?**

**AUAlternate Universe?**

**LemonSMUTTTT! (Smexy...teehee)**

**Anything else that I should know about?**


	4. Author's Note!

Hey everyone!

First of all, I know I'm an awful person and I really do apologize! I recently got back on a writing kick after losing steam a bit so I decided to kick this story back up. I'll be adding chapters and changing things so don't fret if you read something different. Thank you guys so much for your feedback and enjoying my story. I hope you'll continue to enjoy!

xx


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